Epistemic Justice and Corruption Detection

Sor Juana's marginalization as a woman intellectual reveals how corruption operates through epistemic injustice—silencing certain voices while privileging others. Corrupt institutions systematically discredit witnesses, suppress inconvenient evidence, and elevate narratives that serve corrupt interests. They may dismiss women, minorities, or dissidents as unreliable knowers. By recognizing whose testimony is trusted and whose is dismissed, we detect corruption's machinery. Epistemic justice means restoring credibility to excluded knowers and creating conditions where all evidence receives fair consideration. Corruption-fighting frameworks must actively solicit testimony from historically marginalized groups—they often possess crucial knowledge that powerful actors wish to hide. Sor Juana's insistence on her own intellectual legitimacy models how restoring epistemic justice strengthens anti-corruption efforts and reveals systemic truths.